buildingcommunityWORKSHOP

Gifts

Amount Raised

Matching Funds Available

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Mission Statement

buildingcommunityWORKSHOP is a Texas-based nonprofit community design center seeking to improve the livability and viability of communities through the practice of thoughtful design and making. We enrich the lives of citizens by bringing design thinking to areas of our cities where resources are most scarce. To do so, [bc] recognizes that it must first understand the social, economic, and environmental issues facing a community before beginning work.
As the only community design organization working across Texas, [bc] is unique in its approach to community engagement. We form strong relationships through our collaborative design work, educational outreach activities, and social media channels, enabling us to engage with a broad segment of the population. The success of our work is contingent upon reaching those residents not typically sought out by the design and planning community.

Agency Needs

Across Dallas, low-income communities contend with substandard housing, flooding, and other problems which require civic planning to address. Too frequently, those with the greatest needs are left out of conversations about the places where they live. Those who have never participated in civic life often need help navigating these complex systems. [bc] works with community members to identify their needs and empowers them with the knowledge and skills to actively participate in civic design and planning so that they can drive positive change in their own communities.
[bc]'s designs for structures and landscapes are driven by the input and participation of communities through a participatory design process. We also facilitate opportunities for communities to strengthen their identity and build their capacity to organize in pursuit of shared goals. Through a variety of programmatic activities, [bc] supports Dallas's most underserved residents in revitalizing their neighborhoods, improving infrastructure, and bringing economic benefits to their communities. Furthermore, we work to advance the practice of community-engaged design so that more design professionals are prepared to undertake work in the public interest.
Funding is requested for the following programs and projects:
1) Neighborhood Stories: a storytelling project that gives voice to marginalized experiences and celebrates local community identities and cultures by showcasing their histories;
2) Tenth Street Neighborhood Resource Center: to plan and execute programming that will empower residents of this historically significant, low-income neighborhood to fully realize the potential of their homeownership through educational workshops on topics such as title clearance and property taxes;
3) Public Design Impact Initiative: a program that pairs nonprofit and community organizations with free architectural and landscape design services to plan spaces and structures that will best serve community needs.